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Topic: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 1 / 7
howsteanFeb 26, 2011

A recent letter in Radio Times shows Lionel Blair didn't laugh off Ian Pattinson's cruel barbs in Clue, but mistakenly blamed them on Humph.

On 29 January's "Saturday Live" he was asked about the perennial mickey-taking of him. Blair said vindictively "You should always speak good of the dead. Good".

The letter-writer comments "I was stunned. The brilliant Lyttleton was merely the mischievous mouthpiece for the scriptwriter, and for Blair to celebrate his demise surely shows the measure of the man".

And I thought Blair laughed it off - obviously he didn't. I wonder if Pattinson would have stopped had he realised how much his jokes offended Blair. If he did realise, perhaps his continuing shows the measure of the man.

At least on JAM, the barbs at Nicholas are said to his face.

Phil

<<<< 5042 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 2 / 7
DeanFeb 26, 2011

I wrote about this on the blog once – the running joke about Blair is that he is gay, and from memory he says he is straight! So if that’s true, you can understand it would be annoying.

From: howstean

Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 10:09 PM

To: just-a-minute@...

Subject: [just-a-minute] "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

<<<< 5043 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 3 / 7
nylon netFeb 26, 2011

And yet Mr Blair had the determination to leave game shows and dancing, become prime minister, and start his very own war.

... I think.

nylon@...

-----Original Message-----
From: howstean2@...
Sent: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:09:47 -0000
To: just-a-minute@...
Subject: [just-a-minute] "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

A recent letter in Radio Times shows Lionel Blair didn't laugh off Ian Pattinson's cruel barbs in Clue, but mistakenly blamed them on Humph.

On 29 January's "Saturday Live" he was asked about the perennial mickey-taking of him. Blair said vindictively "You should always speak good of the dead. Good".

The letter-writer comments "I was stunned. The brilliant Lyttleton was merely the mischievous mouthpiece for the scriptwriter, and for Blair to celebrate his demise surely shows the measure of the man".

And I thought Blair laughed it off - obviously he didn't. I wonder if Pattinson would have stopped had he realised how much his jokes offended Blair. If he did realise, perhaps his continuing shows the measure of the man.

At least on JAM, the barbs at Nicholas are said to his face.

Phil

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<<<< 5045 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 4 / 7
kj.naughtonFeb 27, 2011

Hello everyone,

I don't know when the running joke started but, if it has been around since the show started in the early 1970s, then implying that someone was gay was a much bigger statement than it would be today. Indeed Scotland and Northern Ireland the act in question was still illegal (until the early 1980s) and only had been partly legalised in England and Wales in 1967. If, however, the joke arrived with Ian Pattinson in 1992 then that's less of a consideration.

However it's still disappointing that Lionel was so embittered by the joke that he apparently was glad someone was dead. I'm sure that, given the way the BBC seems to spinelessly roll over to every Tom, Dick and Harry that has any minor complaint, that if Lionel had wanted to stop the joke, he could have. Certainly the attributed comment doesn't reflect well on him.

Cheers

kJ

--- In just-a-minute@..., "Dean" <dbedford@...> wrote:
>
> I wrote about this on the blog once â" the running joke about Blair is that he is gay, and from memory he says he is straight! So if that's true, you can understand it would be annoying.
>
>
>
> From: howstean
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 10:09 PM
> To: just-a-minute@...
> Subject: [just-a-minute] "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"
>
>
> A recent letter in Radio Times shows Lionel Blair didn't laugh off Ian Pattinson's cruel barbs in Clue, but mistakenly blamed them on Humph.
>
> On 29 January's "Saturday Live" he was asked about the perennial mickey-taking of him. Blair said vindictively "You should always speak good of the dead. Good".
>
> The letter-writer comments "I was stunned. The brilliant Lyttleton was merely the mischievous mouthpiece for the scriptwriter, and for Blair to celebrate his demise surely shows the measure of the man".
>
> And I thought Blair laughed it off - obviously he didn't. I wonder if Pattinson would have stopped had he realised how much his jokes offended Blair. If he did realise, perhaps his continuing shows the measure of the man.
>
> At least on JAM, the barbs at Nicholas are said to his face.
>
> Phil
>

<<<< 5051 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 5 / 7
PaulFeb 28, 2011

But this kind of comment usually depends on the tone it is used, whether it is recorded on a programme, or by a magazine (the only exception where it would be just written would be if you ask for quote from someone and they send it in writing).

I think it's lazy journalism myself. It should be written out (assuming he was joking, of course!) like "I'm glad he's dead(!)" or "Lionel Blair said, in a tone which suggested he was joking, 'I'm glad he's dead'." Just saying "Lionel Blair said 'I'm glad he's dead'", doesn't give the full picture.

<<<< 5052 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 6 / 7
DeanFeb 28, 2011

I think it should be noted that according to the quote we started with, Lionel Blair did NOT say he was glad Humph is dead.

Here’s the quote again: "You should always speak good of the dead. Good.”

I read it as him saying he wouldn’t say anything other than the one word “good” about Humph himself, not that he was necessarily saying it’s good Humph is dead, or that he was glad about it. It sounds like he was implying there was lots he could say about Humph but as the rule is to say only good of the dead, he would say only the word “good”. I think it sounds like a joke that misfired myself.

Also it was on a live programme so it couldn’t be edited out.

As a journalist myself, it gets a bit tiresome to have “lazy journalism” blamed for any quote someone doesn’t like...

<<<< 5053 >>>>

Topic: Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

Message 7 / 7
Dave BFeb 28, 2011

I wonder what Lionel would be like as a guest on Just a Minute. He is know for his dancing and charades (both physical) and music (Name That Tune), l but many years ago I used to hear him giving interviews about his past career. Lets have him on Just a Minute!

From: Dean <dbedford@...>
To: just-a-minute@...
Sent: Mon, 28 February, 2011 8:22:51 PM
Subject: Re: [just-a-minute] Re: "Speaking Ill Of The Dead"

I think it should be noted that according to the quote we started with, Lionel Blair did NOT say he was glad Humph is dead.

Here’s the quote again: "You should always speak good of the dead. Good.”

Also it was on a live programme so it couldn’t be edited out.

As a journalist myself, it gets a bit tiresome to have “lazy journalism” blamed for any quote someone doesn’t like...

<<<< 5053 >>>>

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